UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 27.500-28.000 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 27.520. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on UNH. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $584.00 to $581.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $596.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an overweight rating and a $551.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $573.80.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of UNH opened at $445.63 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $491.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $515.88. The stock has a market cap of $410.84 billion, a PE ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.98 by $0.18. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 6.02%. The business had revenue of $94.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.34 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 31.54%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Power Corp of Canada bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth about $48,000. O Dell Group LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $74,000. Pacific Center for Financial Services bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 84.0% in the 4th quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. now owns 173 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.